


Six Moments When John Fitzergald Byers Was Alive

by misura



Category: Lone Gunmen
Genre: Community: fic_on_demand, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-31
Updated: 2008-03-31
Packaged: 2017-10-25 00:58:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/269929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>see title</p>
            </blockquote>





	Six Moments When John Fitzergald Byers Was Alive

Father Figure (age: 10)  
 _(Pilot and The Cap'n Toby Show)_

Some boys grow up with the happy illusion that their father is a hero - John grows up knowing that when he's all done growing up, he wants to be not a hero but somebody who stands for truth, justice and the equality of all men. He pictures himself in an office, making rules and policies meant to safeguard America from losing its dream. (Langly'd be laughing at him at this age, or maybe not.)

  


Little Tent in the Woods (age:12)  
 _(Diagnosis: Jimmy)_

His first thought ("It's a grizzly, just like gentle Ben!") is quickly replaced by the realization that there's nothing gentle about this cousin of Ben's - nonetheless, survival instincts take a while to kick in, long enough to make his father feel it necessary to grab him by the arm and drag him away - and even then, John doesn't look ahead, to where he's walking. Instead, he keeps his eyes on the grizzly, drinking in the sight, making sure he'll remember this for the rest of his life.

There's some boys in his class who think his father a coward, or a softie at the very least, for not having brought a gun to defend himself, but John ignores them, knowing that if his father had killed the bear who'd put a rather abrupt ending to their camping-trip, he'd never have forgiven him.

("After them, there will be no more," he says, many years later, trying to put into words the feelings of a twelve-year-old who first realizes the glory of nature, and its fragility.)

  


He Ain't Heavy, He's my Sister (age: 22)  
 _(The Lying Game)_

Jeff and John meet and hit it off not quite as well as Carl has probably hoped when he introduced his roommate (no good at sports, likes to study, idealistic) to his brother (also no good at sports, likes to take it easy, materialistic) - still, John feels obliged to make the effort, for Carl's sake, and he assumes Jeff does so, too. They talk a bit, finding no subject they can agree about, drink coffee.

"I sometimes feel like I can't really talk to my parents about some things," Carl says, later, once Jeff is safely gone and the room is theirs again. "I feel like I can talk to Jeff though."

John nods, not really thinking about it. "It must be nice to have someone like that." Someone to talk to, he means, not someone like Jeff. "My father and I ... well." John feels he talks too often about his father, and too few times to his father, sometimes. Usually when it's been a while since they've met.

"You should get a girlfriend," Carl says.

John laughs, making it a joke. What he should get, he thinks, is some friends. Carl is a great roommate, really, but he doesn't share any of John's dreams or ideals.

(And then Carl moves out and Jeff makes sure everybody knows why, and for the first time in his life, Byers finds himself wishing to cause bodily harm to another person - it's almost half a year later that he gets a phone-call from - )

("Carl, I -" he starts, and she, gently, corrects him: "Carol. It's Carol, John. Thanks for talking to me," and he says: "Of course," meaning it.)

  


Suited for Success (age: 30)  
 _(Pilot)_

And then, things happen - it's the year of 1989 and he stops talking to his father, or his father stops talking to him, or he and his father both decide they won't talk to each other anymore. Whichever the reason, the end-result is that he ends up renting a place with Langly and Frohike, and that's how The Lone Gunmen are born, just like that.

Frohike provides the van, Langly somehow gets his hands on all kinds of technical equipment ("Trust me, guys, nobody's going to miss this stuff,") and Byers offers up his ideals, his ideas and his leadership, or as much of it as is needed between the three of them.

He always wear a suit and a tie, like his examples and heroes may not have done, but would have, had they lived nowadays. In a sense, Byers feels his suits and ties are like Langly's long hair - they stand for something, and even if they might seem like opposite symbols to some, their meaning is basically the same.

"No, it isn't," Langly protests. "I wear my hair this way because I like it that way."

"It does make people look at you like you're a hippie," Frohike observes. "Sometimes. Besides, why wouldn't Byers be wearing suits because he likes them?"

Langly mutters something about ties, but not loud enough to require a reply.

(This, Byers thinks, is what it means to have friends. Part of it, anyway.)

  


Who Doesn't Want to Live Forever (age: 39)  
 _(X-Files episode: Jump the Shark)_

"Do you think it'll be quick?" Langly asks, looking slightly nervous - as if they're going to have to put on some sort of play in front of an audience, and he's worried about messing up his lines.

"Probably not very," Frohike says. "It wouldn't make for an effective weapon otherwise." Frohike looks hardly concerned at all. "Then again, Yves did say it only needed air to spread around, not bodies."

Byers sighs and slumps against the wall. Langly looks at him, seems to relax slightly and joins him.

"What a lousy way to die."

"Are there any good ways?" Byers doesn't manage not to ask.

"Guys, can we talk about something a little less ... morbid?" Frohike asks, looking more annoyed than uncomfortable. "I mean, we did save a lot of people's lives." And that, Byers knows, is really all there is to say, all there is that needs to be said.

The Lone Gunmen may not have changed the world, but they've done something worthwhile with their lives, Byers knows. Like the sometimes dead and sometimes still living rockstars on Langly's t-shirts, they've never given up, never given in, and always stood for what they believed in.

  


My Best Friend's Funeral (age: ageless)  
 _(X-Files episode: Jump the Shark)_

Scully manages to put off calling Mulder for all of ten minutes after the funeral he didn't attend - her make-up's a little smudged and she's told herself she really can't go making phone-calls before she's fixed it. He picks up immediately, probably because he sees her caller-ID, possibly because he's been expecting it.

After she's told him, he's quiet for five, six seconds, then suggests that maybe she should take some time off - fifteen minutes ago, Skinner has told her the exact same thing, although it's unlikely his motivations are anything like Mulder's.

"I'm sorry," she says - funerals are supposed to be for the living, an occasion to let go of their grief, she knows; her eyes should be perfectly dry by now.

"True heroes never die," Mulder tells her, before repeating his suggestion and by the time Scully has realized that first isn't a very Mulder-like thing to say, the line's gone dead already.

She starts packing that same evening, informing Skinner she'll be taking him up on that implied offer of some vacation - his voice gives away nothing as he agrees and wishes her a safe trip.


End file.
